


Make It Up As We Go Along

by louis_quatorze



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Domestic, M/M, Pre-Movie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-29
Updated: 2016-07-29
Packaged: 2018-07-27 12:17:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7617787
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/louis_quatorze/pseuds/louis_quatorze
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The evening after the move.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Make It Up As We Go Along

The place was very nice. Big – much bigger than they’d find in San Francisco, with not only a decent bedroom for Demora, but a playroom, and a balcony that fit proper deckchairs. It had a stunning view of one of the thoroughfares, low enough that HIkaru could pick out the trees, high enough that he could still see the way the street stretched and curved out into the distance. A dream home, really.

“What’s bothering you, daredevil? The wine?”

“No, it’s nice.” Hikaru wasn’t much of a drinker, but his hydroponics had only just been set up and store-bought marijuana was never up to his standard. Ben teased him for it. “This from the case Yuriko gave us?”

“Yeah. Thought it was appropriate.” Ben sat down on the couch next to him, draping himself across the arm in that languid way he had. Demora had gone to bed, worn out by the excitement of unpacking, even though the sky had only just begun to consider dimming. “Your sister has good taste.” 

“All Sulus have good taste.” Hikaru grinned, nudging Ben with a toe. 

“Of course you do. But I wouldn’t have trusted you to pick out wine.”

“Just get whatever’s from Napa Valley. There, sorted.” Hikaru sipped at his glass. It was good, for all he wasn’t a drinker. “This is from there, right?”

“Of course. It’s from your sister.” 

“And she knows I can’t just go pick up more whenever.” 

“You never know what you can get here. They get transports from Earth all the time.” 

Hikaru made a face. “Fine, be sensible about it.”

“Were you sulking? Did I interrupt your sulking?” The words were soft, not as sarcastic as they would be coming out of anyone else. That wasn’t Ben. 

“Not really.” Hikaru sighed, running his finger over the edge of the wineglass. “The house is nice, right?”

“Nicer than it looked on the projections, even.” Ben smiled out towards the expanse of windows. “And Demi loves her room. Both her rooms.”

“Good.” 

“Really, it’s perfect, HIkaru. Don’t fret.” 

“I’m not fretting.” At Ben’s upturned eyebrow, Hikaru sighed. “Maybe a little. I mean...it’s a long way from everything, Yorktown.”

“It’s actually a lot closer to most places than Earth is,” Ben pointed out.

“You know what I mean.” Hikaru frowned pensively into his wineglass. “You know, Demi’s going to be the first in like, ten generations to be raised outside of San Francisco.”

“Your dad’s from Seattle.”

“On my mom’s side, I mean. Even Shinji came home when he and Marieke had Klaas.” It had been bothering him more than he wanted to admit, that Demora was going to grow up so far away from Hikaru’s home. San Francisco was in his blood, and he’d never even considered the possibility that his own children wouldn’t think of it that way, too. And yet, here they were, in a shining new building days at warp from it. “I just hope this is a good idea.”

“You know it is.” Ben was as solid and reassuring as ever, catching Hikaru’s trailing foot and rubbing it gently. “It’s going to be great.” 

Ben had always been enthusiastic about Yorktown. It was what had convinced Hikaru. Hikaru had brought it up, technically, mentioned that families of Starfleet officers on deep-space missions got priority for housing, and Ben had got so excited at the prospect of living out here. Hikaru hadn’t really considered it as a real option until Ben did. “I just feel bad, taking her from everything.”

“You’re giving her an opportunity. She’ll be in a more diverse school, for one thing. San Franscisco’s not bad, as Earth goes, but it’ll be nothing like Yorktown.” 

“We raising a diplomat?”

“Maybe.” Ben shrugged. “It’s good for her future even if she goes back to Earth to grow grapes. We live in a multicultural society, and it’s only going to get more so.” 

Hikaru made a noise of agreement. The lights of Yorktown started to twinkle on. Demora would grow up amongst children from nearly every planet in the Federation. Hikaru couldn’t help but appreciate that, even if he wasn’t thinking about it in terms of her future employability. 

“Besides, it’ll be good for her to see her father more often.” 

“Yeah.” That was the real reason they were here, for all of Ben’s enthusiasm about the school district and the space. This was where the Enterprise docked for repairs, supplies, orders. No more wasting half his leave to get home and back. Hell, he could see them if the ship just stopped for a day to put in a new deflector. HIkaru might be melancholy about leaving San Francisco, but he was selfish enough to want that. “Sorry about that.”

“Hey, I knew the score when we had her.” Ben put his empty wineglass down on the low resin table and looked firmly at Hikaru. “But we’ve made it work so far. We’ll keep making it work.” 

“We will.” The surety in Ben’s tone was, as always, comforting. “It’ll be good to be home more often.” 

“It will.” Ben smiled and stood, ruffling Hikaru’s hair as he went towards the kitchen. “Do you want another glass?”

“Nah, I’m good.” 

“You want to put on something?”

“Sure.” Their entertainment system was the same one from Earth, at least, so there was something familiar in the way the controls felt in his hand. He’d have to explore what the Yorktown system offered. That would be for another day. Today was a little more about comfort.

“Really, Hikaru?” Ben sat back down, setting a bowl of olives on the table. “A galaxy’s worth of entertainment, and you pick this?”

“I like Tellarite drama.” Hikaru grinned and settled against Ben’s side. 

“Nothing ever happens in Tellarite drama,” Ben groused, putting his arm around Hikaru. “They just talk.”

“Not enough car chases?”

“Never enough car chases.”

Hikaru laughed.

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the [Talking Heads](https://youtu.be/o9gK2fOq4MY).


End file.
